Second Choice
by Penned Peafowl
Summary: Warren is beginning to remember things that never happened. The more time he spends with Max, the worse it gets. Now he has to balance the alternate timelines in his head with the reality he's living. To make matters worse, his best friend and crush is losing control of the powers that terrify her. Takes place post episode five, so spoilers ahead.
1. Chapter 1: After Party

Second Choice

Chapter One: After Party

The setting sun placed an antique filter over everything, dragging exaggerated shadows across the ground. Everything was so still. Warren couldn't tell whether the campus felt serene or eerie. How appropriate for the day.

An October breeze rolled through, cutting right through his thin hoodie. Warren shivered, and a petal from the bouquet of sunflowers he was holding fell to the cement. It'd certainly gotten a lot chillier since the funeral. He glanced down at the flowers. A rumble came from his gut as it did a micro flop. Hopefully Max would appreciate the Fibonacci seeded beauties and not think it was totally inappropriate. It wasn't, right? He was just a friend trying to cheer another friend up in her time of mourning. Besides, the candle in his other hand definitely negated any unwanted romanticism of the flowers. He'd seen the votive when picking up the bouquet from the gift ship in town. It was an appropriately simple white with a blue ribbon tied around it. A zinc alloy butterfly charm hung from the ribbon. Max had gotten really into butterflies since… since Chloe was killed. He swallowed hard. It was still so surreal. Too horrible to even think about.

Warren hadn't passed a single person on his way to visit Max. He'd foolishly thought he'd gotten lucky. After tucking the candle safely between his chest and arm, he reached out for the door to the girls' dormitory. His fingers grasped air as the door was pulled away by someone inside. He took a step back as Ms. Grant came out. Of course she was there! Since when was he ever lucky? She gave him a slight smile and clucked her tongue softly. "Why Warren, isn't it funny to see you here?"

He tried to force a chuckle, but it choked and died.

"You do realize this is the _girls'_ dormitory, don't you?"

"Uh yeah, I was, um, just here to see Max for a minute."

She examined the gifts he carried. Ms. Grant shook her head slowly once, trying to hide her widening smile. Still holding onto the door, she pushed it open wider and waved for him to go inside. "Don't make me regret this now."

"Thanks!" He smiled like a complete dork. "I always knew being a teacher's pet would pay off!"

She laughed her musical laugh. "Remember, I didn't see you here tonight."

"Of course not!" He awkwardly gave a salute while continuing to balance the candle against his body. He quickly scurried inside, knowing better than to push it.

* * *

Unlike a lot of his fellow male peers, he'd never been inside the building before. A childish giddiness bubbled inside of him as he climbed the stairwell to the second floor. Coming out into the hall, his wondrous expectations of what the girl living quarters would look like instantly deflated. It looked exactly like the hallway he used to dread seeing every morning as he made his way to the bathrooms. Even the mean spirited graffiti was basically the same.

The hallway ceiling lights were out, but most of the dorm rooms were open and lit. Looking for Max's room was like looking for the right screen in a movie theater. Each dorm he passed was a vignette, all in a different genre. He tried not to stare, but found it difficult to keep his eyes to himself. Taylor and Courtney took turns modeling different tops they held up to their torsos. Definitely a YA flick. A rom-com played in another dorm as Juliet and Zachary sat on a couch staring into each other's eyes. He bit his lip to keep himself from giggling at the absurdity of it. A meticulously tidy room stood empty as he creeped past. Shadows fell upon the stark décor. Biblical would be the easy answer, but he was thinking film noir maybe. Another empty room came next. This one wasn't so clean. Dark clothes made the floor into a mountainous terrain and there wasn't an empty spot amid the books and makeup on the desk and dresser. Even the walls were cluttered with posters from obscure sci-fi and monster movies. He smiled. Alyssa. She was a dark comedy if he'd ever met one.

Warren knew Max's room before he reached it. He could feel it. Like the others, the door was open and the lights glowing. He paused off to the side. While he shifted from foot to foot, a nervous tingle made its way through his limbs to his chest. He was going to be in Max's room. To bide a few more moments, he read the white board in front of him. Like every other slate in the hall, and in his hall for that matter too, there was a message bemoaning the late Chloe Price. In Max's handwriting was the message 'You'll always be my partner in time.' It was just the blue letters against the white slate. None of the underlining or doodles she liked to decorate her notes with.

"You can come in," a quiet voice called from inside the room. It wasn't Max. A rosiness rushed to his cheeks and ears at having been caught. He took a few more seconds to try and lessen his embarrassing blush before entering the room.

It was everything he imagined. From the so-overused it's ironically cool Keep Calm rug to the polaroid snapshots patterned on the wall. The whole place was her. The only thing that didn't feel Max-like was Max herself. Zombie faced and slouched against the wall, she didn't seem to register his presence at first. She was still wearing her black dress from the funeral. Only now it was wrinkled and starting to collect little white hairs from the spotted bunny sitting in her lap. She absent-mindedly pet it with two fingers.

Warren knew he was awkwardly gawking at her, but he couldn't seem to stop staring until Kate stole his attention from the other side of the room. She and Alyssa were sitting on a couch. Kate was hunched forward with her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees. She sat precariously close to the edge. "It was good of you to come by," she said with a soft smile. Her red rimmed eyes weren't on him though. They kept to Max. "Those flowers are lovely."

Alyssa had her face in a paperback. He knew she wasn't being rude, just trying to process. "Look at you, breaking all the rules," she greeted.

He wished he could come up with something witty to say. His brain felt like Jell-O in his skull. It wiggled around uselessly.

"Warren," a tired voice dragged out.

He turned around again to face his friend. She looked up at him and he was so afraid that she was going to be this frail vulnerable little thing. He liked the idea of being, like, some kind of alpha type. Being someone she could count on for protection and support. But the image of his friend being a broken toy dropped on the floor—it was too much.

Max wasn't broken though. She looked exhausted and sad of course. When their eyes locked though, he saw her fiery spirit burning deep in them. He cracked a grin. "Hey Mad Max!"

"I didn't think you'd actually sneak in here. I'm impressed."

"No arbitrary gender confines can stop a man of science."

A halfhearted chuckled came from her throat even though it wasn't really all that funny. "So whatcha got there?"

"Oh just a couple something somethings I picked up in town." He didn't want to shove the flowers in her arms while she was still holding the rabbit, so he just tilted them down toward her. "I thought Lisa could use some company."

She leaned forward and buried her face in the large flowers, inhaling deeply. "They're great. I don't think I really have anything to keep them in though."

"I have something," Kate said and got to her feet. "I'll be right back."

"Do you want me to give Alice back?"

"Oh no, if you still want her, you're more than welcome to visit a while longer. It's good for her to be out of her cage like this."

"Of course she's helping me, cute little thing." Max said in a baby voice and rubbed underneath the bunny's chin. It twitched an ear. After Kate left to presumably retrieve a vase, Max asked, "What's that?" She nodded towards the candle.

"This?" he held the candle out to her. "I saw it and it reminded me of you. I thought, uh, I thought maybe you'd like to bring it down to Chloe's memorial."

She took the votive and held it up to her face. The inner corners of her eyes got a little watery as he stupidly brought up her dead friend. Warren looked off to the floor while she studied the charm. He heard her sniff the wax. He'd smelled it in the store—generic vanilla. Nice, but kind of boring. "It's awesome!" Max set the candle next to her on the bed before giving him a long hard look. "She'd really appreciate it, I think."

"So, is it cool if I stay and chill, or do you want me to leave? I totally get it if you want me to go. I don't want to get my man scent all up in your cool Max lair."

She patted the bed next to her. "I'll survive. Take a seat."

* * *

There wasn't a whole lot of talking going on for a while. Kate came back with a plastic water tumbler, which made Max laugh pretty hard. "Sorry, it's the best thing I had. I only have one vase and I forgot I leant it someone." She took up her perch next to Alyssa again and they went back to just sitting in almost sort of comfortable silence. Warren looked at a website that posted passive aggressive signs on his phone for longer than he wanted. He would have switched to his usual forums, but every once in a while Max would look over and snicker at whichever photo displayed on his screen at the time.

The place livened up when Dana and Juliet walked through the door. Dana had a plastic shopping back at her side while her best friend was carrying a pink flat iron. "So we still doing this?" the cheerleader asked. She bounced further into the room towards Max. "Hey Warren," she greeted with a raised brow.

"Yeah, of course," Max answered and scooted forward. Her hands carefully scooped the bunny more towards her body.

"I think I'll bring Alice back then," Kate said. She kept her face lowered more than usual with the two popular girls in the room. Warren felt bad. He hadn't seen the video, but had heard enough about to know what went on in it. Victoria had taken it down before Nathan was even all the way into the cop car. Still, they must have been bringing it up a lot during the investigation. Evidence and all.

Max immediately asked, "Wait, you're coming back, right?"

"Uh," Kate glanced at the company in the room. "Sure, if you want me to. I think I'll just go check up on Stella first. She wanted to compare notes."

"You can bring her over here. If you want."

Kate scrunched up her brows. "Okay? I'll ask."

Warren tried to get Max to look at him, but her interest was on whatever Dana was showing her in the bag.

Turns out the reluctant Vortex club members had brought hair dye at Max's request. They pulled her desk chair into the middle of the room and found an outlet close enough to plug the straightener into. "Do you have any old shirts to put on? I don't want to get anything on your pretty dress."

"I'm sure I do. All I have are t-shirts." She got up from the couch and began to rummage through her closet. From where he was sitting, Warren could see that, in her search, she had come across a particular top that obviously had some kind of meaning to her. She crouched down, front hidden away in the closet from the rest of the teens. She held the shirt out in front of her. There was a butterfly with a skull on it. A tear glistened on its way down her cheek.

Before he could register what he was doing, Warren had jump to his feet and was wriggling out of his hooded sweatshirt. "Hey Max, why don't you just use this?" She quickly wiped her face with the shirt before throwing it into the closet.

"Are you sure?" she asked while reaching out a hand and taking the hoodie he was offering her. It was just a cheap plum one his mom got him from Walmart. Probably on clearance. What guys even wear plum? Or call it that for that matter? Oh man, he _was_ a loser!

"Sure. No biggie. If anything, a few stains might improve it." He looked over at the tall girls expecting them to either be glaring or laughing at him. Instead they had their backs turned while mixing up the chemicals.

Donning his sweatshirt, Max took the seat in the center of the room while the two girls worked. First they straightened her hair. She complained about whether that was necessary or not, but was quickly overruled. Kate and Stella joined the party as Dana squeezed the first strip of dye out onto a stretch of Max's hair. Alyssa had stretched out onto her back, holding the book above her face. Warren sat more in the middle of the bed, so the two nerd girls took a seat on either side of him. He smiled at the thought of them being in a geek hotspot. Temptation came to call Alyssa over to the dark side, but was unsure of just how playful of a mood should be allowed. Instead, he sat there mostly quiet between the girls. Sometimes he'd comment in the conversation they were holding over him about lit class. Every time he did, he swore Max looked at him funny. Maybe he was just seeing things though.

As they were finishing up the color framing Max's face, a few more peeps joined the party. He mentally used the term peeps loosely. Taylor and Courtney, dressed like they belonged in an Aeropostale catalog, hung in the doorway. "Hey Max," Courtney greeted. She hung onto Max's name a little too long.

"Heya."

"We just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing."

"I'm fine."

Taylor noted, "It looks like you're having a party in here."

"Just chilling. Want to come in?"

The newcomers didn't hesitate. They, too, bore gifts. An unopened wine bottle hung in Courtney's grasp, and Taylor had most of a pack of Solo cups. "Thought we'd bring something to cheer you up." Courtney raised the pink moscato to face level.

"Is it really a great idea to drink during times of sadness?" Kate asked bluntly.

"Uh yeah," Courtney had a genuine look of confusion on her face. "Isn't that what they invented alcohol for?" She moved to the back of the room to set up a drink area on the bookshelf.

Taylor bent down to examine the work the other two girls had put into Max's hair. "So what are we doing here?"

"Funky colored bangs," Dana answered. "Seemed approps."

"Straightened it too," Juliette threw in proudly.

"You look really nice, Max." Taylor stepped back as Dana began to wrap Max's wet locks in aluminum foil. "I can't wait to see the color."

Max smiled. It didn't look sarcastic at all. "Thanks. How's your mom doing, by the way?"

Taylor beamed. "Really great! Her surgery went amazing and they say the recovery is gonna be super quick."

"Awesome! I'm so happy for you."

The girls flanking Warren watched the scenes unfolding with as much awe as he. Since when had Max become so close to the Vortex club? He knew she was crazy cool, but they had never recognized it before. When had she become close enough to Victoria's slave to know about her family troubles? It unsettled him. Horrible thoughts of revenge plans came to mind. They weren't pretending to be nice to lull her into a false sense of security only to later get back at her for getting Nathan locked up, were they?

Warren was snapped out of his paranoia by Courtney shoving a plastic red cup in his face with a smile. "Want some?" He accepted it and took a quick sip. The urge to shudder and spit it out was strong. Felt like acid on his tongue. He managed to swallow the drink down in an attempt to look cool though.

* * *

The night definitely headed in a party direction. Warren mostly watched from his spot on the bed. He'd been sitting so long that his legs cramped. Someone put on music at some point. Dana was the first to dance, but the other Vortex girls joined soon after. Alyssa did too. That wasn't surprising; girl loved to get down. Max stiffly swayed near the edge of the group. Warren took another drink of the sweet then burning wine. Something was up. Mad Max wasn't one to party. Unless party meant binge watch Quantum Leap season five and then go argue online about it being a perfect ending and a sixth season with Al being a leaper was totally unnecessary. Warren sighed. And then he finished his drink.

Things in Warren's head were definitely a lot spongier after his cup of wine. He registered that Kate had left and he now had Alyssa and Stella with him on the bed. Max had unveiled her new hair some time ago. Her cute freckled face was now flanked by a purple-y red color. It looked really nice with her eyes. He told her this. Several times. He thought.

Max floated from person to person, like the butterflies she now adored. She laughed with the girls. She took pictures with them. She hugged them. Her little bug legs never landed on his nose though. Courtney filled up his cup. She tried to make horrifically uninteresting small talk with him, but he busied himself by drinking what she poured. Another bottle had come into the room. He had no idea when.

His geek squad bounced at some point. With them gone, nothing stopped him from sprawling out on the roomy bed. Warren laid on his back and closed his eyes. He took in the acoustic song strumming through the speakers as it mingled with the conversations he couldn't quite pick up on. He didn't belong there. And not just because he was a guy. A manly guy. In a way. Warren just knew he wasn't what Max needed. She'd barely talked to him the entire night, and she had kept a few feet between them throughout the service. He couldn't pinpoint a specific time, but he felt like she chose to blow him off a lot lately. Even before Chloe was killed. He was a terrible friend. Half of their conversations were just him trying to impress her. Probably tired of his stupid ass.

Warren swore he would back off Max if she made it clear she didn't want him. A lot of people called him a bitch or friend-zoned. He respected the Max attack. If she would just tell him to knock it off, he would. No matter how much he wanted her. She just wouldn't do it though. Sometimes he even thought she was leading him on.

"Like that note she left on my slate," he mumbled to himself before drifting off into a tipsy sleep.

* * *

When Warren woke up the room was empty. He sat up with a head drowning in grogginess. He wasn't sure whether it was from the nap, the alcohol, or some combination of the two. He pulled out his phone and check the time. Almost half past midnight. Damnit, he was out past curfew. Madsen had been a real hard ass since everything went down. If he got busted sneaking back to his dorm, well, his scholarship might be in danger. Probably not, but one never did know when it came to Blackwell.

"Hey," a voice said from the doorway. Max stood there in his hoodie and a pair of pajama shorts. Short pajama shorts. At least the new color in her hair made it slightly less excruciating to keep his focus off the skin he was in no way prepared to see. He liked that her thighs were freckled too. "You okay?"

Warren silently cursed himself. _Focus you perve!_ "Yeah, totally. Completely. Sorry, I think I fell asleep."

She laughed. "You did indeed. Highlight of the party."

"Shit, really?"

"No. Nobody really even noticed."

"Oh. Good. I think."

She crossed over and lowered herself on the bed in front of him. He really did like the new bangs. His hazy head allowed him to reach over and touch one of the auburn locks. Soft. "I really dig the new look. I kinda thought that you'd go for blue though."

"Nah, wouldn't work on me. That was her thing." Her eyes momentarily flicked downwards. "So you crashing here tonight?"

"What?" he blurted like an idiot.

"You can if you want. It'd probably be bad if you got caught by David, anyway."

"Sure, yeah, yeah. If you're cool with it."

"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't." Max got up and went to her desk. "The bathroom down the hall is empty, if you have to go. I'd take the chance while you can. Some of the girls here get upset when guys use it."

Warren did just that. When he returned, Max had all her pillows propped up against the wall at the head of the bed. She was sitting up, slipped under the covers. Thank dog her distracting legs were no longer visible to cause havoc. She was all the way over towards the wall and her laptop was open in the center of the bed. A movie with the title card Razortooth was paused on the screen. "Wanna watch a movie? I think I found one you'd like." He didn't want to spoil it by saying he'd already seen the delightful CGI mess complete with burping eels, so he kept his mouth shut and just nodded. For the second time that evening, she patted the bed for him. Oh, if she only knew how many of his fantasies started off that very same way. Better that she didn't.

He sat on the side of the bed with his body twisted uncomfortably to stare at the screen with her. Her blinks were getting longer. He figured he'd stay like that until she finally passed out, and then he'd go crash on the couch. "You can get under the blankets, you know," she offered just when he thought she'd fallen asleep. Her blue eyes fully opened when he sputtered at her words. Max laughed. It was beautiful.

"That'd be sorta crossing a line or something, wouldn't it?" He was not going to be the creepy guy hitting on the girl who lost her best friend. Well, he might flirt some. But he was not going to take advantage of any latent vulnerability.

She looked him straight in the eye. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I could really use someone to sleep with." He stifled a nervous giggle. She knew and lightly punched him in the arm. Max paused the movie. "Things have been so bizarro, and it would just be nice. Like old times." She wasn't talking about their old times. That was for sure.

"If you really want me to, I will. You have to promise not to, like, snore or eat me in your sleep or anything." His forced joke almost fell flat.

"I can't make any promises. I tend to turn into a shark mid-sleep."

"Just when I thought it was safe to go under the covers!"

He used their mutual laughter as a distraction to lift the blanket and slip a leg underneath. "You're really going to sleep in jeans?"

"I didn't bring a change of clothes. Thought flowers and a candle would be enough."

"Look, I don't want to make things weird, but if you're not commando, I'm totally cool with you taking those off. I promise I won't look!" Max put her hands over her eyes and then spread her fingers. "Seriously though, it sucks to sleep in denim. Wake up with all those marks. And it's itchy."

"Alright, alright, you've convinced me," Warren said with a waver. At least he was wearing boxers, so it wouldn't be that weird. It was going to be ungodly weird though. He'd have to try and wake up early enough to ditch before she could see anything that might happen to him in his sleep. Max turned her head and he unzipped and let his jeans fall into a wrinkled mess on the rug. He quickly dove under the blanket and covered himself. His face burned. And hers was getting rosy as well. She turned the movie back on without a word.

Whether it was the effect of stress or the incredible awkwardness of the situation, they both made it awake through the end credits of the sci-fi flick. Max closed the laptop and handed it to him to set on the floor. She scooted down into a resting position. "Can you do something for me?" she asked while staring at the ceiling.

"Anything."

"Would it be weird for you to, like put an arm over me or something?"

He gulped like he was a cartoon character. It was audible in the quiet room.

"Sorry, sorry, that was too much to ask."

"I've gotta be honest with you, Max. It might get weird if you want me to spoon you."

"Noted."

"I'll do it though!" he said a little too eagerly.

He scooted himself down and turned onto his side towards her. He'd rather lay the other way or on his back, but he was feeling heavy. And he could never get comfortable any way but on that particular side. Max stayed on her back, arms on top of the blanket at her sides.

"Hey," he said and lifted up his right arm. "We could hand spoon."

"You mean hold hands?"

"Same thing. Friends do that all the time. I've heard."

Her breath hitched. She squeezed her eyes shut. What had he done? After a long exhale, Max grabbed his hand that was still stupidly in the air. She didn't entwine their fingers. Still, her warm palm was cupped in his hand. He nuzzled the side of his face into a pillow. The scent of raspberries mixed with some kind of herb enveloped him.

No words were exchanged for what felt like forever. Warren listened to her breathing even out as he felt his do the same. A solid sleep was just about to land on him, when she murmured, "Thanks for this. I really needed it."

"No problem," he mumbled.

"I haven't felt safe since," she paused, "you know."

"Don't worry about it. I've always got your back, Max." A foggy memory came to his worn out mind just as it began to give out for the day. It felt important that he mention it, so he added, "Like that time with Nathan."

He didn't see her eyes bolt open, though he did feel her grip tighten. He was too far gone to read much into it. "What time with Nathan?"

"When I got that black eye."

Max said something. He didn't know what. Sleep claimed him.

* * *

 **Note:** Hey, so this is the first time I've written a fic centered on a hetero couple in, well, maybe ever haha. I couldn't help myself though. I've been in such a writing slump, and something about Max and Warren inspired me. A lot of people were bothered by his white knight syndrome, but I think he's just an awkward sixteen year old boy that's trying to balance a friendship with his romantic feelings.

Anyways, this will be taking place after my specific play through of the game, so I'll give you a few notes on how it went. Kate died (because I apparently suck at talking people down). Max befriended pretty much everyone (with plenty of rewound conversations). And every slight romantic action one could choose with Warren, I chose. And I did not have Max kiss Chloe. Oh and I sacrificed Chloe.

Another note I wanted to include was that I, personally, didn't feel like there was a romantic/sexual love connection between Chloe and Max. I know that's not a popular opinion, but that's just how I took it. I think Chloe had a thing for Max, but Max fell further towards the straight end of the spectrum. She just made too many random comments about boys being cute (with sheepish inflections) for me to think that she'd want to have sex with the very hot Chloe. I do think that Chloe was her soulmate though, if that makes sense. Maybe I'm just weird, but I do believe that your soul mate can be someone that you have no desire to sleep with.

Sorry for the long note!


	2. Chapter 2: Brunch

Chapter Two: Brunch

A flash followed by clicks woke Warren the following morning. Max sat on top of the covers next to him, polaroid camera extended out to take a selfie. She grabbed the instant photograph and gave it a few waves. "Morning," she said looking down at him.

He instinctively bent his knees up in order to hide anything that might have popped up. After a few seconds of his mind rushing, he realized he, miraculously, had nothing to hide. "What are you doing?"

Max picked up a sharpie from her side and scribbled what appeared to be the date on the back of the picture. "The usual." She reached over him and retrieved what he thought was a jewelry box from her nightstand. She opened it up and casually tossed the selfie in it and marker. From the peek he got before she snapped it shut, there were other dated pictures in it.

"Selfie box?"

She shrugged and put it back. "It's an experiment." She bounced up from the bed and walked over to water her plant. While she had her back to him, Warren took the opportunity to get his pants on again. "I've been having some pretty wicked, uh, nightmares, and the pictures just make me feel better."

Warren nodded as though he understood.

"Sorry if last night was too much. I feel totes pathetic right now."

"Hey, hey, come on now," Warren shushed and walked toward her with an extended hand. He squeezed one of her small shoulders then proceeded to rub her arm. Max was still in his sweatshirt. A sense of pride surged to his head. "It's fine. It really is. Anyone would need some comfort after experiencing what you did."

She still looked unsure.

"Besides, everyone at Blackwell already knows that Max Caulfield will do anything just to cuddle up to this piece of man meat."

Thankfully, this cracked Max's unhappy expression. She barked a laugh and smacked him sort of hard in his side. "Oh is that really the hot gossip around here?"

"Course it is! We're, like, the royalty of this school. Lady Selfie, prominent hipster and the dashing Sir Gay-ram, science dork and teacher's pet."

She bit her lower lip as the corners of her mouth twitched. "Everything has been so peaceful here. How much longer do you think until it all starts again? All the bullying and bullshit?"

He lacked the heart to inform her that it hadn't ever really fully stopped for some, and instead simply shrugged.

* * *

Warren would have liked to stay in Max's dorm all day. He wanted to study every picture on her wall, sift through her eclectic vinyl collection, and convince her to play that acoustic she had tucked away in the corner. He'd never realized just how much of a hipster she really was. Adorable.

Unfortunately, he had a getaway to make. And Max had the convenient excuse of needing to check up on Kate to get out of awkward post bed-sharing conversation. Out in the hall, Max closed her door shut behind her. Just as he was about to bid her adieu, she asked him, "Hey, what were you talking about last night?"

With a groan, he rubbed his head. Truly pitiful how much of a lightweight he was, but his head was sort of throbbing and he felt off balance. He remembered her asking him to spoon her—that was something he'd never be willing to forget—and the handholding. "What part?"

"You said something about getting a shiner."

Warren's hand moved from his temple to his eye without much thought. Man, getting punched hurt. The movies never quite get that tidbit through. "That time with Nathan?"

"When, exactly, did that happen?"

He didn't get a chance to answer her question, or really put much thought into it. Heels padded against thin carpet. Before he could turn and see her, Warren heard Ms. Grant's disappointed chiding. "No boys allowed." When she reached them, the full-figured science teacher looked them up and down. "Didn't I specifically ask you not to disappoint me, Warren?"

"Sorry, it's my fault," Max started, but was shot down with a stern look.

"Get out of here before I come to my senses and write you up." As Warren scampered off, he could hear Ms. Grant begin a lecture with, "I'm truly sorry for what happened, but I'm not always going to be able to look past these sort of things." Great, his friend had needed support and he instead got her in trouble. Just great.

* * *

Warren stretched out a long sigh as he walked down the hall towards his room. As expected, there was no sign of life. Only losers like him hung out in their dorms during the weekend. After seeing it, he wished he lived over in the girls' building. Not for any pervy reasons or anything either. Last night was sort of amazing. Everyone just coming and going—a real community. Although, something told him that might not have always been the case.

He stopped outside his door. Someone had scratched 'fag' into the cheap wood. His fingers traced over the uneven letters. Real original. Glad to see that a school dedicated to the sciences and arts could inspire such creativity. Warren shrugged, trying to brush it off.

Out of instinct, he glanced over at his slate in an attempt to cheer himself. A dorky confession of his cuteness didn't stare back at him like he expected. Max's tall lettering was missing, as were the two cells from the periodic table. There was just a generic 'You'll always be with us' scribbled in his chicken scratch.

"Man," he whined to himself. When did he erase Max's note? He'd promised to save it forever. Vaguely, he remembered his shaky hand writing the tribute to that Chloe girl a few hours after Max was escorted off campus with a police officer's arm around her. The slate had been blank then. Warren tried to think harder, to remember exactly when the message went missing. He almost might have had it when…

Snap! A bladed whip cracked through his skull. The pain came from out of nowhere. With a grunt, Warren found himself shuffling backwards while clutching his head. He dug the butt of his palms into his eyes, hoping to alleviate the sharp stabbing sensation with anything else.

Once the pain subsided into residual trickles, he managed to straighten his back. His ragged breathing filled the empty hall. The sudden headache couldn't have lasted more than half a minute, but he felt like he just lost his entire day. What was that?

Warren went straight to his desk once he was inside his dorm. He opened the top left drawer and pulled out an amber vial. The glossy label on it read 'Fluoxetine 20mg.' He unscrewed the plastic top with veteran ease and tapped a single capsule into his palm. White with mint and black stripes. _"A Prozac a day…"_ he thought to himself as he swallowed it down without the ease of water. It was a little later in the morning than he usually took his prescription. Maybe that had been what caused the ferocious headache. Just in case, he chased it with an acetaminophen caplet.

There wasn't a whole lot for the geeky guy to do homework wise, classes being cancelled and all. After resting on his back until his normalcy felt restored, Warren reread a chapter in his chem book while spinning in his office chair. He played around with the shading on a piece of crap comic-styled drawing he was working on for his mandated art class. And he proof read his mathematical proof, and then giggled to himself each time he thought that pun.

By one, he had exhausted what schoolwork he had. He picked up his smart phone and opened his text messages. Max's conversation thread was on the top of the page. It usually was. He opened it. Seconds later his phone was making the whirring chime it did whenever he sent a message.

Max Attack! Didn't get chewed out too much, right? :-/

Lemme know if u need anything! For reals!

He spun around a few more times in his chair before his hand began to vibrate. Warren jumped enough to wheel the chair back a few inches. He hadn't expected a reply so quick. Usually Max took hours to get back to him.

The name in the blue message box on his screen wasn't Max. Instead it read Brooke.

You still have your wheels?

That made him smirk. Of course he still had his retro baby. He responded that he did indeed and asked her what was up.

Meet me in the lot in fifteen. I need a lift into town.

He asked her how she knew that he didn't have any crazy plans, but she never texted back.

* * *

Outside it smelt like cold cement and wet leaves. Warren took a deep breath, letting the crisp air into his lungs. He loved fall, especially before all the snow and ice. And he could probably do without the shortened daylight.

By the time he bounced down the steps to the parking lot, Brooke was leaning against the passenger door of his car. He'd booked it out of his dorm only a few minutes after he got her text. She had her attention in her phone, so he didn't think she knew he was headed towards her. "Finally," she said dryly as soon as he was within earshot. Her eyes didn't leave the screen lighting up her glasses.

"I'm so sorry. Had to slay like five dragons on the way to my chauffeur gig here."

"I warned you: getting a car in high school is setting yourself up to be used. You're just lucky it's me this time."

"Lucky me," he muttered with an eye roll, but then smiled. She glared at him the entire time it took to manually unlock her door and then hold it open. Too easy.

They didn't exchange any words as he successfully started his car. Only took two tries this time. His hand instinctively went to the back of her seat as he reversed out of the spot. She took off her glasses and examined the lens. Didn't put them back on until they were on the road.

"So where did you need to go?"

"Two whales."

"The diner? That's what all the urgency was for?"

"Yes," she answered in her matter-of-fact way. "I happen to be starving. And it sucks going there alone. People look at you."

Thank someone that his stomach didn't growl at the mention of food. He hadn't eaten in a while, but it'd been too knotted up with all the Max stuff to even register hunger. "Alright, Two Whales it is. Gonna get my pancake on!"

* * *

They took a booth in the corner, though Warren personally preferred sitting at the counter. Brooke flipped through pages on her phone with one hand while holding her forehead in the other, elbow on the table. Colorful hairs from her bangs pushed up over her hand. He'd never appreciated her dye jobs before. They were actually pretty cool.

A lady who wasn't Joyce came by and took their orders. Warren stuck to syrup drenched pancakes and coffee, while Brooke ordered the largest breakfast combo they offered. Eggs, bacon, sausage, ham. Might as well just bring it out in a caveman skillet. "Weird not seeing Joyce," Brooke commented in a lowered voice once the other waitress walked away.

Warren raised a brow.

"Don't give me that look!" she snapped. "I didn't mean that she should be here serving us. I just meant it was weird to see someone else. It's sad. The whole fucked up situation is sad."

"That it is."

"I'm surprised you were able to come out. I thought maybe you'd be too busy with Max or something." There was an odd inflection on Max's name. Like when a kid discussed someone they thought were stupid or stinky or whatever insults children used.

"I haven't heard from her since this morning. Probably needs some time alone or something."

"Hm," she hummed to herself with narrowed eyes. "Rumors were true, huh? Interesting."

"What rumors?"

She ignored him. "Soooo," she let the single word drag out as she leaned back against the booth. A smug smile splayed across her face. "I finally finished Freaks and Geeks."

"Whaaa? Nerd license officially reinstated! What did ya think?"

Her smile lost its usual shit-eating quality, making her look genuinely happy. "Hype train lived up for once. It was pretty good. For what it was."

"What do you mean for what it was?" Warren clicked his tongue. Trying his best to impersonate the dad from the television show, he said, "You know, there was a girl who went to my school that didn't really like Freaks and Geeks all that much. You know what happened to her?" A second of pause, before he loudly said, "She died! Heroin overdose. Didn't appreciate good TV enough." Warren hadn't realized how loud he'd gotten in his excitement. Several other diners glared in their direction. At least he made Brooke almost laugh.

Discussing the alternate casting for a reboot of the show took them all the way through their wait for the food. Things got a little heated when discussing Sam. Warren thought someone like Art Parkinson would be best, as long as they jumped on it quick. He had the nerd cred to represent the geeks. Brooke argued for Ty Simpkins or, as she called him, the annoying kid from that horror movie, you know the overrated one.

The conversation continued until they were halfway through their meal. It'd diverted into what they thought happened after the ending, one of Warren's favorite things to think about for anything with a plot. He swallowed a bite of undercooked pancake before suggesting, "Lindsay and Nick would get back together."

The mug of coffee that had been heading towards Brooke's mouth paused. She knitted her eyebrows at him. "You're kidding. That's just illogical."

"What are you talking about?" Indignation swelled up in him and turned his ears red. "He's a sweet guy. Why wouldn't they get back together?"

"Just because he's nice doesn't mean they have to get together. You're obviously suffering from crippling WKS." The confusion on his face made her clarify, "White knight syndrome. Lindsay clearly doesn't like him as anything more than a friend."

"She does too. She gets jealous when he gets with the disco chick from Mean Girls!"

"That doesn't make them a viable couple."

"Then who would she wind up with?"

"Why does she have to wind up with anyone?" Warren shot her a look, genuinely curious about what she'd answer. "If anyone, it'd most likely be Kim."

"How does that make any sense? They're not, they're not gay. I don't think. Canonically at least, although I've read some fanfiction... "

"They're spending the summer together on a life changing adventure. They're going to share in a world that nobody else will be able to compute other than themselves. Plus, Kim is beautiful. Anyone shoved into an RV with her long enough would fall for her."

Warren opened his mouth only to shut it again. For once, he didn't have anything to say. A not-entirely-comfortable silence overtook them.

He was still smoldering from their disagreement when his phone buzzed from his pants pocket. Warren wasted no microsecond in retrieving it.

He could feel the goofy involuntary grin spread across his face when he read Max's name.

Wasn't so bad. No worries.

What r u up to?

She never asked about what he was doing. He quickly typed back that he was at the diner, somewhat purposefully forgetting to include Brooke's presence.

Feeling company? Sounds delish right now.

While he tapped back the reply of it always being nom worthy (although it really wasn't that day), Brooke said something he missed. He hit send before asking her what she said. He just got back an icy glare. Max texted that the next bus was coming soon and that she should be there within half an hour.

The waitress dropped off their tab not even five minutes later. And then again a few minutes after that when Warren said they needed it split. He only carried plastic—the debit card to the joint account he had with his parents—and never thought to offer to pay for Brooke. It's not like they were on a date or anything.

"Now what should we do?" she asked after they finished paying. She started to scoot towards the edge of the vinyl seat.

"Uh, I was thinking we could just chill here longer. Free coffee refills."

She rolled her eyes, but relaxed in her seat again.

* * *

Conversation was a struggle until Max showed up. He and Brooke had fallen into the safe topic of chem class. Since he was facing the door, he saw Max first and waved her over. As Brooke turned her head to see who he was motioning towards, her face fell. Max walked to the table, but made no move to sit down. "Hey, Brooke. I didn't realize you were here." She looked between the two of them. "I can go. Sorry, I, um, I just didn't know."

"No." Brooke said flatly. She shot daggers at Warren. "It seems as though you were invited."

"She said she was hungry, so—"

Brooke cut him off, "Don't."

"I can go," Max offered again.

"Don't even worry about it, Max. I was getting ready to get back anyways. Lotta open skies on a Sunday." Her grin came so forced that Warren was afraid she'd pop a blood vessel. "I know you're going through some shit, so you should be with your friend."

"Are you sure?"

Brooke got up from the table. "Later Warren," she said without looking back.

She'd made it to the door when it came to his head that he'd been her ride "Wait, do you want a lift back?" he called out to her. She ignored him and let the door slam close behind her.

"Yikes," Warren muttered. He tried to laugh it off in an attempt to make Max stay. It took her a few moments, but she eventually assumed Brooke's seat.

"So you already ate?"

"Yep. I don't mind chilling here while you catch a meal though."

She chewed at her bottom lip like she was trying to keep something in her mouth. It worked. After a moment, she suggested, "Why don't we just get some coffee at the counter? I guess I'm not super hungry; it wouldn't be the same as Joyce's cuisine."

Warren headed for a stool near the end of the counter. Max herded him more towards the middle. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she had a very specific spot in mind. They sat and ordered from the waitress who gave him a skeptical look. Warren overheard her mutter, " _That_ guy?" to one of the fishermen a few seats away.

"Can I bug you about something again?"

Warren couldn't keep the smile off his face. It just felt too right to be spending so much time with her like this, even if the conditions weren't exactly ideal. "Always. You never bug me though."

"That thing about Nathan you were telling me about—when exactly did that happen?"

"You should know. You were right there, until you took off with… you know."

"Pretend I don't know what you're talking about, and tell me what happened. Everything you remember."

Before recounting his tale, Warren rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. He remembered that it'd been really sunny out, and he was thankful about that because Max'd been taking so long to meet up with him. Jitters had run through him. He couldn't stop rubbing his fingers against his slick palms, just to have some sort of movement to work out his nerves. He'd been so afraid that she would hate his car. It wasn't new or all that fancy. He'd fallen in love with it though. If Max had hated it, well, that would have hurt.

Max finally showed. Her eyes were way dilated and she buzzed with as much anxious energy as him. For a second, he thought, maybe—nah, that was stupid. Something had happened, because she started on about needing to talk about it. He assured her she could trust him. Max didn't get to tell him though. Next thing he knew, that asshole Nathan was up in her face. He seemed even more pissed than usual. Without even having to think, Warren he tried to get his attention off her, and was rewarded with a head-butt from Nathan's thick skull. He went down. In a humiliating fashion. While he was distracted with pain, Nathan continued to harass Max. Until he stopped, he thought maybe she got him off somehow. And then there was that truck. Even with the threat of being mowed down, he wasn't going to leave her alone. Warren got to his feet, even though he wasn't completely stable. Energy pounded. Deafening. He needed to get Nathan off her tail. Tackling him hadn't fully been his idea, but it's what happened. He had a triumphant second as they were falling to the ground together. And then he was getting punched in the face, while the two girls drove off.

He finished telling her what he remembered, while she drummed the pads of her fingers on the counter. "Woah," she breathed. "Sounds intense."

"Getting your ass handed to you usually is."

"So, did all of this happen last week? That's when you first got your car, isn't it?"

Warren rubbed his temple. Tremors of a tired pain began to penetrate his skull. "Well yeah, I just got my wheels last Sunday. What's with all the questions, Max?"

"But you didn't show me your car until Monday."

"Right, you never texted back until then."

"And Monday was the day in the bathroom. When Chloe died."

"Alright, yeah." The tendrils of the headache buried deeper. Man, what was going on with him? Should've taken an Excedrin or something.

"They took Nathan straight from her body to the cruiser." Her voice became stony.

Warren winced. He set his jaw, trying not to grind the teeth his parents had put all that money into when he was a kid. "I was out front when they took him away. I saw the stretcher and someone said your name. I thought…" He didn't know if his eyes started to feel watery from the growing pain or the memory that he had thought his friend was dead.

"So when did this beat down with Nathan happen? Before that? Warren, this is important. You need to tell me."

Words were unable to form. They could barely exist in his brain that felt like it was on fire and wrapped in barbed wire. His other hand groped for his head, fingers squeezing trying to massage. His vision blurred, though he could barely register that fact. He was too busy trying to convince himself he didn't need to vomit.

Max continued. "And where's your black eye? If all of that happened Monday, it should still be bruised."

It made sense, even though it made no fucking sense. He _knew_ he got his ass kicked by Nathan on Monday. Shirt rising as his back scraped the asphalt. Terror of Max getting grabbed by the throat. They were real. But the timing. It didn't work. Warren tried to explain this. He opened his mouth, but his ears were worthless. Judging by the expression on his friend's face, he didn't manage to say anything. Probably made some pathetic noise.

The intense pain had just begun to weaken its grip when Max put a hand on his shoulder. Then it simply vanished. He was left grabbing his head like a crazy person and not even with a trace of the migraine aside from heavy breathing and sweat cooling on his forehead. Her palm made small circles as she rubbed his upper arm. Max breathed, "Dude, are you alright?"

As he straightened back into normal posture and wrapped his hands around his cup, he forced a grin. "Yeah, just feel like I got assaulted by a train, that's all."

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to—I just need to know."

"Let's not talk about it. For a while." Warren needed at least a few moments to reflect over whether he should be locked up in a crazy house or not. He had memories of things that couldn't possibly have happened. Wasn't that, like, schizophrenia or something? His poor mom! He was her only kid. Her only shot, and he was a loon!

Warren didn't even realize that her hand was still on him until it trailed down to his wrist. She gave it a light squeeze. Suddenly, the fear of being insane was no longer the main focus of his mind. "We've been here together before, haven't we?" she asked. "Like, right in this spot."

Well, he'd been to the diner plenty of times. And, from the stories of her childhood she told him, he knew she had as well. Warren couldn't think of bumping into her there ever before. He certainly wouldn't forget that; it'd be almost like a date or something. Right? "I don't think so." His words came out uncertain.

Max had the look of someone who wanted to blurt out government secrets to a subway full of people. A blush broke out high on her freckled cheeks. After a few beats, it seemed as though she swallowed down whatever she'd thought about saying. Maybe wise, but he really wanted to know.

"Hey, can I show you something?" she asked. He waved for the waitress to come over as he went to retrieve his card. He'd become so wrapped up in their little world, that he failed to notice she, among most of the adults in the establishment, were giving them strange looks. The waitress just told them to go.

"You look sick," she said with a raised upper lip. "Get outta here before you upchuck, and I'll forgive her tab. Didn't even drink the coffee."

* * *

Whatever Max wanted to show him was back on campus. Brooke was still waiting for the school bus when they headed toward his car in the lot. He offered her a ride back and she just gave him a dirty look. "I feel so bad," Max said more to herself than to him.

"Don't," he offered. "She gets pissy way too easily. Part of her personality."

They rode back in mostly silence. Once they were on campus again, Max started off in the direction of the girls' dorms. He kept an eye out for faculty as she led him to the bench outside the building. "Wait here," she ordered and he sat. Max disappeared inside the building for some time. He played on his phone, trying not to count the minutes. He was accustomed to waiting for her.

The sun began its final show for the day. That time were it imbeds everything with the best lighting, before setting them afire with intense hues. Warren closed his app to check the time. Quarter 'til five already. Dang! What was taking her so long?

He managed to stay the urge to text her until it had reached five. It took nearly five minutes to get a response back, though it had blinked from sent to read almost immediately.

Sry. Something came up. Major drama llamas. Catch up with u l8er.

With a sigh, Warren pushed himself off the bench. Aches in his body told him that it was colder out than he realized, and he trudged off towards his dorm with sore knees and ankles.

* * *

By ten o'clock that night, Warren was down to just his boxers and tucked into bed. He'd never be the teenager that movies and media expected him to be, so why not give up and sleep at a reasonable hour? Nothing too much of note had happened in the finale of his weekend, per usual. Brooke had posted a picture on Facebook of flaked style imitation crab (or was it krab?) meat with his name edited over the actual brand. Somebody had erased his memorial on his slate drew a sloppy dick doodle in its place. And his mom emailed him. She wanted to know when classes would resume, making the comment that tuition was too expensive for there to be no lessons.

Most of his time had been spent reflecting on Max. No surprise there. This was different than his usual play by play he did of all their interactions. You know, stuff like, did he touch her too much? Should he be worried about a rejected hug? How could he prevent himself from turning into a rambling idiot? No, that evening's thoughts had been more along the line of what going on with Max. She seemed stressed, which no duh with everything, but he felt like something was up. She'd really grilled him at the diner. Usually she just kind of went with the flow of their conversations, which ultimately led to him making a fool out of himself, but whatever.

With as much time spent thinking about what could be up with that girl, he stayed away from contemplating the specific memory she was so curious about. Science failed to back it up, yet he knew that those wicked headaches were related. His brain was becoming trained to stay away. Pavlovian. At first he worried that he was having blackouts in his memory train. It wasn't that though—it was like there was too many. Warren shuddered and forced himself to concentrate on his class schedule restarting the next day.

He was in that wonderful world smack dab in the middle of awake and asleep when the timid knocks started at his door. At first, he was going to ignore it. Probably one of the douches playing a prank. They got a little bolder. The door shook against its cheap hinges. When the knocks stopped, a voice from someone speaking close resumed its place. "Warren, you there?"

Max? That couldn't be right.

"C'mon, let me in. I feel like a total creeper out here."

Warren scrambled to his feet. He almost made it to the door knob when he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. No need to expose her to that boyish disappointment. He dove to the bottom drawer of his tall dresser, knees burning from their scoot against the rug. He pulled out the first t-shirt his fingers pinched. A grey one that warned to never trust atoms since they make everything up.

He pulled the door open wide. Max was really there! In the boys' dorm. In front of his door. Instead of moving aside so that she could escape inside his room, he stood in the middle of the doorway gawking at her. Warren couldn't snap himself into the reality of this moment until an obnoxious whoop came from somewhere down the hall. He recognized Justin's voice calling, "Whoa! Dawg's got a bootay call. You go lil' bro!"

Max rolled her eyes and pushed him out of her way.

Aside from her usual satchel that held her camera and not much else, Max was carrying a larger backpack as well. She set them both on the floor against his bedframe. Max was fully clothed in pajama pants and his sweatshirt, which she promptly took off and handed to him. "Forgot to give this back." Long sleeved shirt underneath. It didn't hit him that he was in boxers until then. It was what he slept in; there wasn't anything else aside from jeans he could change into. Warren sat, more like crumpled, on his bed and draped his hoodie over his lap.

"So, uh, what brings you to my lair?" he asked once she had settled down next to him. A few more inches and their thighs would be touching.

"I could use some help with a project." From her larger bag, she retrieved a familiar box and what looked like a notebook. After it was handed to him, Warren could see that it was a softcover photo album. On the front was a cartoon baby deer with a butterfly on its nose. Something either an eight or eighty year old would enjoy, not what he typically thought of as Max's style.

"Alright, we can say that you snuck in here just to get some help putting polaroids into an album." She didn't respond to his comment, instead busying herself with opening the box. Inside were her morning selfies, which were then slipped into the protective pages. He watched her file the seven pictures away in chronological order. It didn't take long. Afterwards, she slipped everything back into her bag. No more distractions. "So, what's that project about, anyway?"

"It wouldn't make sense to you. Yet."

He nodded. "Okay then."

"I'm sorry about earlier, when I bailed on you. Again. Kate seemed off. I went in to talk with her, and shit got serious, and it didn't feel like an appropriate time to text."

"It's fine. I'm used to it." He smirked as she scowled. "Seriously, I think it's really cool that you've been looking after her. You're like a hero, Max."

She let out a rather bitter sounding chuckle. "I know I didn't give you much of a choice, but can I crash here tonight?" She held both hands in the air. "I promise, I'll stick to the couch in an effort to not cross any further over the line than I already have." Of course he consented, even offering to take the couch himself. She stuck to her guns though. "How could I resist that periodic table blanket? Way cool," she reasoned, motioning towards the throw blanket his parents had bought him last Christmas.

* * *

Warren managed to keep his word count under control. Neither of them said much once the lights were out. They settled in on opposite sides of the room. Max thanked him for letting her stay. He rushed to assure her that he'd be there for whatever she needed.

"Are you ever going to tell me what you were going to show me earlier?" he asked.

Max pierced him with her blue eyes for several moments. They nearly glowed in the dim room. She looked like she was entering a war she'd already served in. "Maybe later. Right now, I just want to enjoy this. Having a friend without dragging them down with secrets."

Although he didn't understand and his curiosity was certainly peaked, he accepted her answer.

Warren turned onto the only side he could get comfortable on, which meant facing away from her. Guilt gently rubbed his back as he fell asleep. And it stayed with him the first few groggy moments of his cell phone alarm going off the following morning. When he got up and saw his couch empty, he assumed he dreamed up Max sneaking into his room. Except that the fuzzy elements were all bunched up into a pile, as though someone had been in a hurry to get up and go.

When he approached the couch, Warren discovered that the messed up blanket wasn't the only thing Max left behind for him. Her journal laid on top of a sealed manila envelope. A bright piece of police caution tape bundled the two together. He picked the items up and saw that she had scribbled danger all over both of them in numerous inks. A note that had been underneath fluttered down to the couch. It read:

 _Could you please hold on to these for me? I'm too unstable to be around them right now. You have every right to know what's going on, and these have all the answers. I'd like for you to wait to open these until I'm ready, but I don't know if I'll ever be. I keep going back._

 _-M_

* * *

 **Note:** I'd really like to thank everyone who left a review, favorited, or followed this story. I was really surprised by the amount of attention this has gotten, and it has been a huge confidence boost in this nerd with low self-esteem's life. So thank you!

And now here's an excuse that nobody asked for: I can't promise more than one chapter a week. I'm a fulltime student and worker, so my downtime is unfortunately limited until classes are done in a few weeks.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, everyone!


	3. Chapter 3: Calculator

Chapter Three: Calculator

Alpha-B resulted in a stick appearing below the frowning circle. Warren passed the graphing calculator back across the table to Alyssa. By the curse word muttered under her breath, he guessed that she hadn't done any better. He took Kate's calculator again and looked at the screen. A left arm had joined the stick figure appearing below the gallows. Thirteen letters, one A in sixth place and an E in tenth. No B, I, or O. He flicked his eyes up towards the quiet girl seated next to Alyssa. Kate tried and failed to suppress a slight grin. She might have them this time.

Warren tapped his finger against the epoxy resin tabletop before selecting the letter S. One appeared a place ahead of the A. Relief breathed slowly out from between his lips as he handed the device over to his teammate once again. "This is ridiculous. What kind of word from hell did you pick?" she complained. Warren took his next turn. The purple haired girl had correctly guessed U. Second to the last letter. Words raced through his mind, and he tried to select the most atypical ones. He came up short. Might as well finish off the vowels with the wishy-washy brother.

_ _ _ Y S A _ _ _ E _ U _

"Seriously? I'm going to feel so stupid after this, aren't I?" Alyssa asked. Trying her best to look nonchalant, Kate shrugged in return. He could see a glow behind it though; she was loving this.

When it came time for his next turn, the poor convicted man had two arms and the letter L was dumped in the corner of the screen. He wanted to ask for a hint, but pride wouldn't allow for it. He could get this; he skipped ahead two grades. Sure, the school had made him retake sixth grade for fear that he wasn't 'matured' enough for middle school, but the point remained that he'd been smart enough to move ahead. Everything was as it should be though. Had he really been allowed to remain that far ahead, he'd be sitting in a college classroom right now, not playing hangman. And he would've never met Max or any of the other people he liked at Blackwell. Butterflies, man, butterflies.

"Uh, earth to Warren? You there, bro?"

"Hm?" he questioned and looked at his partner who was waving a hand in his face. "Yeah, I'm just thinking."

"We've only got a few minutes left, so hurry it the fuck up. I gotta know what this stupid word is!"

On a whim, he selected M. Totally not M for Max. Totally. Luckily, his creepiness was rewarded with two M's.

_ _ _ Y S A _ _ _ E M U M

Alyssa breathed out loudly. "Am I just an idiot?"

"You can get it!" Kate offered and rubbed her arm. Warren could still tell she held out hope they'd fail.

He knew the word as soon as he received the calculator again. An N followed the A. Warren looked to Kate again. Playing with the cross dangling from her necklace, she stared holes into the table. Probably afraid of giving something away. He didn't know whether or not he should dare hit the guess button. Kate had been urging all of her friends not to treat her any differently, but this could be such a silly little victory. Didn't she deserve one of those? He purposefully selected an F, resulting in a leg. Only one more wrong guess. He'd leave it in Alyssa's hands.

_ _ R _ S A _ _ _ E M U M

Dammit! She got the R. Now what? He searched Alyssa's eyes to see if she knew the word yet, but, as far as he could tell, she remained bewildered. Would Kate believe that he couldn't get this one? If he purposefully lost the game and she knew, she'd be hurt. Warren cracked his neck and typed in the word 'chrysanthemum' after tapping the guess button. 'Correct!' took the place of the hangman. He slid the calculator back over to the girls, facing it so that they could read.

"Chrysanthemum?" Alyssa mumbled. "That's such a Kate word."

Although she lost, Kate Marsh beamed. "I really had both of you stumped for a while, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did," he admitted. "I was thinking it was some sort of fantasy mineral or manmade element or something."

"You would."

College Algebra had been his first class back after the nearly weeklong break. Ten o'clock on a Monday morning and he was greeted by a surprise quiz. It really was a smart move on the teacher's part to get their brain juices flowing and see what they still remembered from weeks one and two. Still, if only to blend, he groaned with the rest of the class. Everyone in his table group of three finished within fifteen minutes. They were given the entire hour. To pass the time, they'd taken up a few games of hangman on Kate's calculator. As the stack of handed in tests grew, the more chatter they could get away with. By the last few minutes of class, full conversational volumes were allowed.

"Did your guys' schedules change much?" Kate asked.

"Not at all. Just, you know, a new teacher or two."

Warren responded, "Yeah, I don't think anyone really got different blocks at all. Seems like a waste of paper to print them all out again."

"Getting ready for environmental science, much?"

Kate nodded. "You're right. I bet they were afraid kids would think all photography classes would be cancelled." Nobody knew what to say after that.

Several sites and pages had cropped up around the internet now that the Jefferson scandal was getting out. Some called for the so-called artwork he made in the horrible bunker to be released to the public. Others went as far as to call the portraits masterpieces and say they should be put in a gallery. Monsters declared that people like Kate (who remained unnamed in the media) stood in the way of true beauty; a few lives shouldn't matter in the making of something great. It took everything he had in him not to feed into these hateful people and post pointless responses.

The two girls had continued talking while Warren drifted off into thought. His attention wasn't grabbed until someone mentioned Max. "She's been helping me so much," Kate said in little more than a whisper. "Sometimes it almost feels like she went through it with me. Like she knows how I feel, so she knows exactly what to say."

"Really?" Alyssa sounded surprised. "I like Max as much as the next person…" she gave Warren a funny look. "Well, maybe not the _next_ person in this instance, but it kind of seems like she's stalking you. I mean, she walks with you everywhere now. Even the bathroom."

Kate adjusted her bunched hair. "She just wants to help."

Alyssa scoffed, but then quickly muttered an apology. "Guess I'm just bitter. She's stepping all over my territory. First my ex, now my best friend." The two girls both giggled as they stared at Warren and his probably reddening face. He hated it whenever Alyssa brought up their 'history.' He'd been fourteen when he wrote her a note asking her to be his girlfriend, check boxes and all. They spent two weeks silently walking each other to class and sometimes hugging goodbye. It wasn't until after she dumped him that they really became friends.

Nothing more could be added to the conversation; the bell rang. Alyssa waved goodbye and left the classroom while texting someone. "Want to walk me to class?" Kate offered. Warren had nearly forgotten that they had Illustrated Novels next—one of the classes where he had to actually struggle to get an A.

* * *

Canvas sneaker propped up behind her, Max leaned against a locker with crossed arms. Warren didn't know how she even knew what their next class was, but his breath stuck in his throat upon seeing her. His steps increased their pace. Kate kept right up beside him. "Hey," Max greeted with a small wave.

"Hi Max," Kate said. Her gaze swung from their mutual friend back to him.

"This is so weird, right?"

Kate clasped her hands in front of her skirt. "A little. It'll probably feel weirder when we get to photography."

Max nodded.

Warren felt out of the loop. She'd probably just been waiting to check up on Kate. He thought about maneuvering past to escape into the classroom, rather than sticking around as a third wheel. But then Max addressed him. When he didn't respond right away, Kate gave him a nudge in the arm.

"What?" he asked like an idiot.

"Do. You. Want to. Meet. Up. For. Lunch. After this?" she over enunciated.

"Yeah, of course. Anything in mind?"

"Gee, there's so many choices on campus."

He and Kate began to pull away when the bell clanged throughout the hall. A few other tardy students scrambled into the classroom before Warren. Something held him back when he was little more than a foot into the classroom. He looked down. Fingers clutched his wrist. Confused, he couldn't compute why Max was holding onto him. Most of the students seated at their drawing pads, and even the teacher, stared at them. A nervous chuckle rose in his throat and died there before it had the chance to sound. Max closed the small distance between them. Placing one hand on his shoulder, she pulled him down a bit. Then she was kissing him. Warren didn't know what to do. His face roasted as his chapped lips tried to make the proper motions. There was supposed to be like a sucking or something wasn't there?

Max pulled away before he could fully process what had happened. The chorus of the classroom's buzzing was deafening. The teacher could barely be heard ushering Max away. Warren rose a hand to his mouth.

* * *

As he and Kate approached their next class, Max stepped out of the room. He couldn't be sure from the distance, but he thought her face looked a little flushed. Warren absent-mindedly quickened his pace. Soon, the bell would clang, and he hardly ever got to see Max in the halls. She was usually lost in her own world, earbuds in, and not looking attentively in his direction. And most certainly not waving him over. "Hey," she greeted once they reached her.

"Hi Max," Kate said.

Max barely seemed to register Kate's presence. Her eyes kept to Warren. As much as he would have loved to have her undivided attention, he could see Kate grow fidgety next to him. "I'll let you ladies catch up," he said and took one step toward the door. "I should, uh, probably get working on my next masterpiece. Thinking of making a cartoon cat that loves fish and is named Fish." His words spilled out, willing him to stay. Warren had to force himself to move further away.

"Wait up," Max said. He obeyed. Lingering back, she didn't speak for a few moments. In that time, Kate excused herself and disappeared into the classroom. The bell began to go off before Max spoke. When she did, it was hard for him to hear her, but he thought she said something like, "Warren, please forgive me for this." He had been about to ask what.

Crack! His cheek stung like a motha. She'd slapped him. Max had slapped him! And hard. With a stiff hand. Neither said anything, just breathed and looked at each other with wide eyes.

* * *

Max was waiting for him and Kate outside their next classroom's door. One hand dropped down to her side from its extended position. The quiet girl next to him walked faster to reach their friend. Warren dropped back, actually taking his time. A hand went to his left cheek, which was stinging. Something didn't feel right. He had a flash in his mind of Max slapping him. It was right there, but that was impossible. He hadn't even reached her yet.

He still rubbed at his cheek when he joined the two girls. Max gave him a strange look. "Something wrong with your face?" she asked.

Warren notably stood closer to Kate, keeping some space between himself and Max. It was ridiculous, but he felt as hurt as if she really had smacked him. "It's fine. Just, uh, just probably a pimple or something." Oh yeah, real smooth.

She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I have something to tell you guys."

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"I'm some sort of freaky time bender." Max didn't skip a beat after dropping that bomb. "Not only do I have rewind powers, but I can jump around too. If you ever want to revisit an old memory, just bring a picture on by my office."

Kate scrunched her eyebrows. "Are you feeling alright?" She glanced up at Warren who mimicked her uncertain look. "Or is this some sort of joke? I don't really get it."

"No, it's the truth. I slapped you, Warren. Just a few minutes ago. On the side of your face you keep touching. Do you remember?"

He wanted to laugh it off. But the fact remained that he could remember her doing it. Or, at least, he thought he did. Before any appropriate words could form in his mind, Max raised one hand.

* * *

Kate was the first to notice Max waiting for them outside their next class. Their friend let her arm drop as Kate skedaddled over to her. "Woah, deja vu," he murmured to himself. A headache was starting to creep into his head. The pain started dull, standing just off to the sides of his temples and the base of his skull.

When Warren made his way to the girls, they were talking about how weird it was for school to be back in session. Warren remained silent. He observed them as though they were actors on a screen. There was a major disconnect.

"Hey Warren, you okay?" Max asked. Kate rested an open palm on his arm.

"Yeah, yeah fine."

"Did I ever tell you about that time that Chloe tried to get me to kiss her?" Both he and Kate glanced at each other. "Yeah, and then she texted you about it later. So, I guess there wasn't really a reason to tell you."

"I didn't know you and Chloe were so close," Kate commented.

Warren picked his phone out of his pocket, but didn't bother to turn on the screen. "Chloe never texted me before. We'd never even talked."

Max frowned.

* * *

"Look, Max is waiting for us. Or maybe it's just you," Kate said with a giggle as she tugged on his sleeve. Everything seemed sort of wavy. Each step he took felt off, like his foot was in some freefall until it came to a crash landing against the tiled floor. He rubbed the side of his head. Another headache was starting up. Did he have any aspirin in his bag? He might need to go to the nurse to get some.

While he was thinking to himself, Kate led him to Max, who looked him over suspiciously. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Never better," he lied. How could he explain this weird fuzziness? They'd think he was on drugs. Not that he was cool enough to be on drugs.

"Hey Kate," Max started. "Remember mentioning that Warren is pretty much obsessed with me?"

A full blush overtook her pale face. She wrung her hands together. "Uh, no Max, I don't. I, um, I don't think I ever said anything quite like that."

This would have been a much more profound moment for Warren had he not been so distracted by the fishbowl effect taking over his head. Maybe he would have gotten embarrassed and denied it. It didn't matter at that moment.

"I guess you've never came right out and said it." Max rubbed the back of her head. "Only heavily implied it. Everyone has."

Both of the girls stared at Warren, waiting for a reaction that never came.

"I've kissed him. Twice."

This wasn't scandalous enough to make Kate gasp, but she squeaked something that edged on it. The pain in Warren's head grew sharper. Max's words began to connect. And then she raised her hand.

* * *

Walking down the hall felt like wading through the ocean at waist level. Tides kept pulling and pushing him, causing his feet to fall off course. Twice he stepped on Kate's heels on the way to their classroom. "Are you alright?" she asked. Her words could barely squeeze past the pain constricting his head. Warren shrugged and tried to grin. The tide rolled and he felt the tiles yanked out from under him. If Kate's shoulder hadn't been there to steady him, he might have gone down. In fact, he almost took her down with him.

Warren wasn't surprised when Kate mentioned something about seeing Max across the hall. Blurring had overtaken his vision, but he knew she'd be there without even seeing her. The meek girl who continued to support him called out for their mysterious friend. Max appeared on his other side, arm wrapping around his back. "What's wrong?" Was she nervous? She sounded nervous. Did that mean she cared? Not realizing the loud manic quality his voice had taken on, he chuckled loudly in an effort to show he was alright.

The two girls managed to get him over to the line of lockers standing guard against the wall. Metal clanged as it met the back of his head. Through his cotton shirt he could feel the cold locker door as he melted against it. His friends were talking quickly; he couldn't keep up. Something dripped onto his bottom lip before trailing down his chin. "Here," Kate said as she grabbed something out of her bag. She brought a clean white square to his nose, making a stop to rub his chin first. She didn't hesitate to squeeze just under the bridge of his nose as she held the tissue to it. In only a few moments, she pulled it away. Soiled with blood. When she retrieved another, he clumsily took over in holding it.

* * *

Warren was no longer safely leaning against the lockers. He was precariously stumbling alongside Kate. Nose still bleeding, though he no longer had a tissue to halt its flow. Pain seared his brain, mingling with a bloated ache. Like someone with a hangover, he prayed to puke and get it over with. Still, he had a suspicion that vomiting would do just as little for him.

Soon, he was being lead along in another direction. Warren let his hurting head loll to the side. It bumped against Max's, which was a bit of a surprise. Since when had she been supporting him? His arm was around her shoulders and now his head against hers. Cozy. He tried to speak, finding that his lips brushed against something fuzzy. Mr. Tissue had once again made a return! This time he was balled up and shoved into his nostril. Warren couldn't even imagine how cool he must have looked. He opened his mouth to speak once again. This time he felt something bubble in the back of this throat. Tasted like pennies. Most likely a bloody lump of mucus. Warren swallowed and decided that he didn't really have much to say, anyway.

"Oh my god, Max, what's going on?" a voice screeched, breaking through the haze. Their feet stopped. Max shuffled to turn and speak to someone. Warren followed her gaze, albeit slowly, and recognized the very beautiful and intimidating Juliet Watson. Her hulk boyfriend who liked to make his life miserable sulked behind her. Max said something, to which the supermodel (or maybe goddess, he did feel like death) responded, "Anything to help!"

The football player left his spot and thundered right toward him. Why was he getting so close? "C'mon," the beast muttered. Warren's world shifted. He'd been transferred from Max and into the side of Zach, who smelled like musty body spray. Zachary grabbed him by the upper arm. Warren felt himself fall forward. Maybe he'd crack his head open and this could all be over. He steadied once the taller guy snaked an arm across his upper back.

They began moving again. The pace set by the undoubtedly pissed off jock proved difficult for Warren to keep up with. He felt like a ragdoll being pulled along by a child. They were finally able to stop when they reached a closed door. 'Health Center' a sign to the side read. Max opened the door and he was pulled into an uncomfortably sterile environment.

After plopping him into a chair, the two vortex club members left. Juliet told Max to keep her in the loop before disappearing. Kate popped into his field of vision from seemingly nowhere. She must've been following behind the entire time. She put a hand on his shoulder while talking to Max. Something about letting their teacher know. What was the point? Knowing Blackwell, the whole school probably already knew. Kate left the room as well.

Warren hadn't noticed the lanky man in white scrubs until he rose from his seat behind a desk. His angular face kept getting higher and higher until it finally stopped rising. No person had a right to be that tall! A few steps was all it took for him to join them. Something blue was in his hands. The man pressed it against Warren's cheek and a chill ran through. "Well take it; I'm not going to stand here holding it for you." Warren grabbed the ice pack and kept it to his face. "Switch off between the two sides," the nurse ordered.

Max and the man went back and forth a few times before he convinced her to leave. She flashed a pitying look as a departure gift. Warren groaned and leaned back in the hard chair. He closed his eyes and let himself fade into the pain still wreaking havoc in his head. A silly thought for sure, but he thought that Max would've helped. In fact, he'd been sure her touch had finished off the last one. This time she, if anything, made it worse. By the time his nose finally stopped bleeding and he was allowed to take the cold compress away, the sharp pain lessened enough to allow for clearer thoughts. His head still throbbed though.

The nurse glared at Warren from behind his desk. "What are your symptoms?" he asked.

Warren just stared blankly. The icepack, now warm, flopped in his grasp.

"What's wrong? Nausea? Headache? Rapid pulse? Trouble breathing? What?"

"My head hurts." Understatement of the year. "And I feel kind of sick."

A desk drawer squealed as the man pulled it open. He retrieved something. After a pit stop at a water cooler, he came to halt and loomed in front of Warren's seat. The nurse slipped a chalky white tablet into Warren's hand. Palm open, he stared at it for several moments. '50' was etched into it. "Go ahead and take that first." The man handed him a paper cup with chilly water. Warren did as he was told and was rewarded with another white tablet, this one much smaller. "Let that sit on your tongue." He did. It wasn't long before it dissolved, leaving behind a sour taste.

The nurse led Warren into the back of the room where there were three curtained off areas. He pulled the first one open, and Warren didn't need to the told twice to lay down on the rubbery cot. He crashed before he could worry if there should have been some sanitary paper laid out on it or not.

* * *

Warren woke to the sound of his own groaning. His cheek peeled off the rubber surface as he gingerly pushed himself up into a seated position. Disorientated, he blinked several times before his surroundings became clear. The nurse's office. He'd only been there twice before to get flu shots. And that had just been in the lobby, not any of the curtained off rooms. Next to his bed was a boxy nightstand. Atop a doily, an opaque vase filled with fake flowers sat next to a framed drawing of a similar carnation bouquet. A window high on the wall filtered in light. It was like a miniature hospital room. Or nursing home. Creepy.

After a stretch, Warren got to his feet. He found his hand to be shaking as he pulled back the curtain enough to peak through—whether it was from nerves or just worn out from his earlier experience, he couldn't be sure. Something was going on though, that he knew.

Out in the lobby, the school nurse sat behind his desk, back straight and reading some sort of medical journal from the looks of it. Maybe Warren was just guessing that from his surroundings. The man flipped through pages much too quickly to be reading. "Up already? I'm surprised," he said without looking in his direction.

Warren pulled the curtain all the way back and stepped out. One sneaker squeaked against the shiny floor. "No rest for the wicked." A nervous chuckle escaped.

"I am not going to ask that you tell me whatever it was that you inebriated yourself with, but know that you'll only receive one free pass from me. Next time someone drags you into my office, I will be calling for an ambulance."

He rubbed the side of his face. "You think I was tripping out?"

The nurse rolled his eyes. "There's no need to play coy. I've been here long enough to know exactly what sorts of things the _prestigious_ students of Blackwell play with. Unconventional care might as well be my specialty after all these years." He sighed. "At least you were an easy case—no needles or charcoal needed."

"Right." Warren began making for the exit. Jefferson and Nathan had been enough for him; he didn't wish to see any more of his school's underbelly.

Before he opened the door, the nurse called out to him. "Oh, and would you kindly not mention the pharmaceuticals to anyone? I don't need any rats rummaging through my drawers again."

* * *

The first thing Warren did after leaving the health center was to dodge into a bathroom. And boy was he glad he did. Strokes of dried blood were painted all over his lower face. After washing it off, he tried and failed to rinse the rusty taste out of his mouth. "What is happening to you?" he asked himself in the mirror, like every teenaged werewolf cliché ever. Warren tried to pick off the garnet spots from his t-shirt, but gave up after a few moments. He may as well just run to his room and change, depending on the time. He plucked his phone out of his jeans pocket to determine which class period they were currently in. The flood of messages awaiting him came as a surprise.

Some were from Kate, others from acquaintances he called friends. Most were from Max though. He opened their conversation. She'd left eight or so messages, most along the lines of apologizing and telling him to get in touch with her ASAP. Without putting too much thought into it, he began to reply. Until he read his words back, he hadn't even realized what he typed. _What's going on?_ Warren immediately erased the question. He tried to think of a better reply until he was no longer in a bathroom staring at his phone.

* * *

"What the hell kind of word did you pick?" Alyssa asked as Kate tried to hide her grin. Warren looked around like a fugitive. A calculator slid across the resin tabletop towards him.

"Chrysanthemum," he whispered as his mind recognized the game on the screen.

Both girls asked 'what' at the same time. It would have been comical if he wasn't so freaking confused.

Warren pulled his shirt out to examine it. No blood.

His chair squealed as he backed away from the table. He swung his bag onto his back, ignoring the questioning looks he received from his groupmates. Like the badass he never knew he could be, he marched out of the room, leaving behind the teacher calling for him to take his seat.

Warren stormed down the empty halls. He pushed forward with greater determination when he saw Max in the exact position he knew she'd be in from the end of the hall. "We need to talk," he said once he reached her.

"I know," Max breathed. "But not right now."

"Then when?"

"Tonight."

"Okay."

"Right now, I need you to go back to class and pretend like none of this is happening." Max raised her hand. Warren found himself staring at a graphing calculator with hangman on its display instead of math. Only an A and E had been correctly guessed. At least he could make sure Kate won this time.

* * *

 **Note:** Sorry for the slight delay on this one. It's been a hellish week.

Also, one of the hangman puzzles is missing the Y. I know this, but I can't get it to work properly on here.


End file.
